1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to advertising display apparatus and more particularly to modular display apparatus adapted to sequentially display advertising indicia at multiple viewing locations.
2. Prior Art
With increasing value being placed upon the public exposure of advertising media, a need has arisen for providing means to display advertising media in a more efficient manner. This need is particularly evident in locations where a large audience is available to be exposed to advertising over an extended period of time (e.g., sporting events, restaurants, theaters). The conventional means of advertising used a fixed display which may not be altered or changed in a short period of time. As a result, the viewing audience will be exposed to a limited amount of advertising thereby substantially increasing advertising costs.
A device taught by the prior art transports a plurality of advertisements between a pair of reels which may alternatively serve as a take-up or supply reel, the option being dependent upon the direction of motive power. The device taught by the prior art utilizes only a single viewing window. The problems which are inherent in this device are obvious. Although a transported series of advertisements may be sequentially displayed, the use of only a single viewing window limits the directional orientation and thereby substantially reduces the available viewing audience.
The present invention substantially resolves those problems inherent in the devices taught by the prior art through the use of a plurality of viewing modules assembled in a polygon. A plurality of modular viewing apertures or windows are employed, each viewing window being bounded by a set of vertically oriented idler rollers. A selected pair of modules are pivotable with respect to the remaining modules. Pivoting a module provides access to the interior of the display assembly and permits changes to the direction of orientation of the viewing window. A horizontally transportable banner supports advertising media. The ends of the banner are secured to rotatable reels or drive rollers which are powered to alternatively allow the drive rollers to act as supply and take-up reels. Irrespective of the number of modules, the present invention employs only a single pair of drive rollers and rotational power sources therefor. The banner is extended across each of the idler rollers associated with the plurality of modules. The banner and advertising media are translucent. By appropriate illumination or back-lighting, each piece of advertising media may be sequentially displayed at all viewing areas.